Budapest Vámpírok Bálja Steintrip - Day 3

So, our last day of the trip. Our flight was to leave in the evening (well, that was the plan, but it ended up 3 hours late). Anyway, for the morning we met up with the other SteinManiacs for a little boat trip along the Danube twixt Buda and Pest. A few photos from the river ...





And at this point we left the waves behind and waved goodbye to the SteinCrowd. So I'll end on the thought that this was the best SteinTrip yet, and a last photo of Budapest ...

Budapest Vámpírok Bálja Steintrip - Day 2

Our first full day in Budapest this trip, and a chance to re-visit some places that Julie and I had seen before. I realise that the theatre and some of the hotels are in rather run-down areas, but Budapest does still have a lot to offer if you have the time and legs to see it all. So here are a few shots to show it at its best ...







So, on to the evening, where the Berlin crowd were joined again by William and by Laci and his charming wife. Judi and Ann found a restuarant for us, and we were located upstairs in a very warm room. Several cold beers and milkshakes helped a little. Unfortunately much of the food was just as cold as the drinks.

So, after a rather poor meal, there was little bit of smartening-up for some of us before the show ...





... it was on to the theatre:









The show itself was excellent, with (in my opinion) Krolock and Magda being the best performers. There were some timing problems, and some issues with the set, but nothing that destracted from our enjoyment. The biggest moment was when Koukol found himself pinned to Chagal/Magda's coffin as the walkway part of the set came down behind him and rather too close for comfort. However he managed to rip himself free!

Rinkoff was as good as his word, and helped us crash the party (actually, at the start it looked as if we were the party! Here's Steve and the cast posing for the official photographer:



And here's Koukol and Steve posing with us lot ...



... and "Magda" after we told her how wonderful we thought her peformance was ...



And then it was time to leave the vampire world behind for a while. But even then there was a nice surprise, as the front door was locked so the only exit was via backstage...





And finally, here's Brian who's beginning to wish he'd not asked for some much ice in his G&T's ...

Budapest Vámpírok Bálja Steintrip - Day 1

In Berlin we sadly had to wave goodbye to some Steinfans who were not following on to Budapest. Brian was first to leave in the morning, taking a long train journey through some beautiful countryside to arrive in Budapest late in the afternoon. Will, eager as ever, was the next early bird but found that his flight wasn't quite as keen to leave for Budapest as he was. The rest of us had a couple more hours sleep, and met Will at the airport.

So the SteinFlight took 6 of us to Budapest where we got a taxi van to take us to our various hotels, in time for a quick sh*t/shower/shave (delete as applicable) before making our ways to the theatre. En route we looked out for any SteinSites like this:



When we got to the theatre, we were surprised, delighted and a little bit worried to see some familiar objects:



Well, we did consider using the coffins as an unorthodox method of getting into the premiere, but even then we'd miss most of the show. Our entrance could be fun though! Instead we contented ourselves with some posing in front of the coffins:



From there to a local pizza place before we returned to the theatre for some stalking. I don't know if they knew we were coming, but the music in the restaurant included AFL and IYWAWAIWAM (first time I've ever typed that one out!). What are the odds, huh? Which reminds me, back in Berlin we heard AFL and Hero whilst sipping a milkshake in McD's.

Back at the theatre, we stalked Rinkoff till he noticed us:



Finally, here are some shots of the theatre and another part of the set later on:

The Berlin Tanz der Vampire Steinmeet - Day 2

First order of the day, well after breakfast, was to get the U-Bahn to Alexanderplatz where one of the passageways had been converted into part of Krolock's castle. Very nicely done -





And as you can see, they even arranged to have the place haunted :-)



Or perhaps those were passengers from a ghost train... (sorry!).

Later on we managed to find the "Kloblauchhaus Museum". What, a museum dedicated to garlic??



No, sadly, it's all about the Knoblauch family. I just hope they weren't infamous for having foul breath!

And here's a famous Berlin landmark -



in front of some tower or other ;-).

A little later we saw some tourists nearly walk into the path of this thing:




Hmmm, maybe we could hire this for our next SteinTrip? Wouldn't that be cool? ;-)

On to the evening, where we had a meal before the show. Here's Markus at the head of the table. Or was his detached head the head of the table?



And here's Will outside the theatre. Even in the absence of food he's trying to eat again ;-)



The show itself was good, though Thomas Borchert (who was excellent in the concert in Vienna) wasn't present, and was replaced by Jack Ribaldi aka Graf Von Spitalot. I wasn't impressed.

After the show we cleaned ourselves off, put up our umbrellas (which would have been even more useful inside the auditorium) and walked along to this appropriately named place:



I don't know if Markus and Brian were ready for this assault from the Paparazzi -



but they did a sterling job of Heaven Can Wait. Such a good job that the Heathens Couldn't Wait to leave the bar and find somewhere quieter! Anyway, here's their rendition:

The Berlin Tanz der Vampire Steinmeet - Day 1

Last time I visited Berlin was in 1990, shortly after the wall came down. I dutifully bought a piece of wall from one of the many traders near the Brandenburg Tor. Well, it said it was a real piece of the actual wall, but maybe someone figured that their house was worth more as small pieces sold to gullible tourists, than it was as an actual house ...

Anyway, Berlin has changed a lot since then. What used to be part of East Germany now looks like any other Western city, with streets that are no longer pot-holed race-tracks for youngsters in Trabants.

This time we started near the "Hollow Tooth", a famous Berlin church that was damaged in WWII.



Near to which is this less historic artifact ...



Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour? ;-)

After a quick lunch (but not here) -



we went to Berlin Zoo. Sadly we never did see "Knut" the famous Polar Bear Cub, despite waiting for 30 minutes or so after his alloted time. Guess he was still in make-up. Bearly 17 weeks and rarely seen, I suppose. But here's the attention-seeking young bear-next-door, out of his tree with jealousy towards Knut...



In the evening we met up with the other SteinManiacs for a meal. I managed to find a picture with food and drink but without Will (a difficult job of course):



Afterwards we retreated to a bar where they had a special offer on their cocktails. I plumped for this vaguely on-topic concoction...



... which turned out to be the gay-est cocktail on the table :-(



The bar did have a piano, but some of the keys were out of key, so Brian found an alternative instrument to accompany Markus's vocals ...